


Hugs and Kisses

by demurely1



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Comfort, Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Gen, Sexual Content, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-06 22:25:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demurely1/pseuds/demurely1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This follows on from the end of episode 4 when Beth reveals to Mark that she knows about Becca.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/44404210@N04/8602973780/)   
> 

_Chloe: Why do they need all of us?_

_Mark: So people can understand how much losing Danny meant to us, see what sort of family we are..._

_Beth: I know about you and Becca Fisher._

 

Mark walked along the corridor reeling. 

Yet again Beth had stunned him, leaving him with no way of responding, at least not immediately.  He would have to go into the public meeting and try to make a sensible appeal despite his head buzzing with her revelation.

She’d done the same, earlier in the week, when Hardy and Ellie had come round to give the update. W _anker - s_ he’d called him - in front of everybody.  He’d been too surprised to respond then too.  In the end he’d let it ride– he knew she was under stress – and he had just shouted at her as she arrived back from a run, after all.  At the time he’d figured she was just getting back at him.  Now he wasn’t so sure.

It all got too complicated after the public meeting. Beth and Chloe had both been quite upset by having to talk about Danny in front of everyone.  In the end, he’d gotten a lift home with Chloe in one police car, while Beth had gone off with Ellie again. Thick as thieves, they were - had been for years!  Perhaps, it had been too much to expect that Ellie wouldn’t tell about Becca...

Now he would have to sort it out, he pondered, as he made a cup of tea for Chloe.  She wasn’t tearful any more, just quiet.  He looked around the kitchen.  Liz had obviously washed and cleaned up everything from dinner, while they’d been out. She must have gone home now.  He needed a chance to talk to Beth, calmly and rationally if possible, but there rarely seemed to be the opportunity.

He carried two mugs of tea upstairs.  Chloe was on her bed wrapped up in her favourite throw. He handed her a mug and got comfortable sitting beside her, his back against the wall, his arm about her.  He got her to talk about everything – it was what they always did – the public meeting, Jack, Danny’s mobile, the press report, Nige’s roast beef, the photographers. He loved listening to her, she reminded him now of Beth when he first knew her – feisty and bright, but not keen on being the centre of attention.  He found it hard to believe he’d known her almost as long as he’d known Beth; it felt like he’d grown up with them both.

Although Danny had also been an important part of his life too, it was Beth who’d been closer to him.  That was making what had happened all the more harrowing for her.

It seemed a long time since Chloe had snuggled up with him like this. It reminded him of when she was a toddler – totally demanding of his time – following him everywhere and hanging on to his leg, if he wasn’t holding on to her!  He smiled to himself – prompting Chloe to look up at him and ask what was so funny.  He explained and added, “You always did need plenty of hugs! Good job, I’ve always loved hugging you.  I think it made me grow up a bit quicker!” He gave her another squeeze.

The conversation turned to Mark, the seventeen-year-old father, and what life had been like for him and Beth as teenage parents. Eventually, he looked down at her quizzically, making her look back up at him with eyebrows raised.

 “You’re not trying to tell me something, are you?” he asked tentatively, his brow furrowing.

“No!” she countered immediately. “I wouldn’t be that silly!” She smiled and gave him a hug, making him shake his head and smile back at her.  “But...” she went on, “if you’re thinking about hugs, you should keep some for Mum – I think she really needs some now.”

Mark looked down at his daughter in surprise – now **she** was stunning him too! Here she was, older than her years, giving him advice now.  He tightened his grip around her and leant his head back against wall, tears pricking his eyes.

“I know,” he admitted. “I keep trying!” He groaned aloud. “I just can’t get close enough to her.”

“Well, you’re just going to have to keep talking– until you do!” 

Chloe smiled, squeezed her Dad and snuggled against him, signalling that _their_ conversation could stop now.

Mark smiled wryly and looked down at her through his tears.

....

Mark jolted awake when the front door clicked.  It was almost dark now, the nights were drawing in after all. He disentangled himself from Chloe’s arms and got to his feet, turning to lay her gently on the pillow and pull the quilt over.  She barely stirred, just mumbled something.  Mark stroked her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead, then collecting the mugs, turned and left her room in silence.

He padded downstairs and found Beth in the kitchen, in the dark, standing at the window staring out over the field. “Beth! Thought I heard you come in."  He stood beside her and put the mugs down in the sink. "I’ve been sitting with Chloe – she’s asleep now.  Can I get you a cuppa?” he asked softly, watching her carefully.

In the gloom, Beth’s face hardly twitched.

“Right. OK. Look. About Becca - I’m really, really sorry.  I was stupid, thoughtless.  I know I’ve hurt you.  I wish it had never happened.” Mark watched her closely, desperate for some response.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, her voice and body trembling with anguish.

“Oh, God, Beth!” he groaned, grabbing her waist and falling to his knees. “Whatever you want!  I’ll do whatever I can to put this right.... please, Beth, I need you to let me put this right.” He pressed his face into her belly, sobbing.

“What about Danny?” she asked, her voice pitching higher, her hands caught somewhere in mid-air, not wanting to touch him.

“What?” he looked up at her non-plussed now, tears streaming.

“Did you see him...that night?”

“What? NO! No - no, no... oh God, Beth, I thought you knew!” he moaned. “Didn’t Ellie tell you I was with Becca that night? That’s why I couldn’t tell you about it - or the police. I thought you knew!”

“Ellie didn’t tell me anything. I **saw** you with that woman, the other night.”

Mark’s brow knotted as he looked up at her. “Oh,” he murmured, “what - by the harbour? That was after she’d got me out – told the police where I was. It was finished then.”

“You were kissing.” She sounded more angry than upset now

“It was goodbye, Beth. She sent me home. I’d only gone there because you asked if I’d hurt....killed Danny. I was hurting. She kissed me goodbye and sent me home.”

Beth looked down at Mark's tear-stained face and knew it was true. She sighed and let her hands drop on to his shoulders. Then burst into tears and crumpled forward onto him, into his arms.


	2. Hands and Lips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Mark reminisce.

Mark sat on the floor, his back wedged up against the kitchen unit, his legs splayed apart. His arms surrounded a sobbing Beth, while he shushed and stroked her tentatively.  She lay almost in a foetal position, half-kneeling between his legs, but with most of her weight against his chest as she clung onto his upper left arm.

He wasn’t in any hurry to adjust her position, despite her shoulder pressing sharply into his ribs. He’d been trying to hold her, to comfort her, ever since that dreadful day, but had never managed more than a few seconds. She’d spurned him every time – turning aside; pushing his hands away; keeping her distance.

Now she hadn’t so much fallen into his arms, as crumpled and fallen onto him. Nevertheless he was grateful.

He looked down at the back of her head and pressed his lips against her hair, as he stroked his right hand over her shoulder blade and ribcage.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” he whispered, tears filling his eyes again. “I never thought that it’d look like I’d hurt Danny. I was just trying not to hurt you more.”

She shifted and sobbed again, taking some of her weight off his left arm, allowing him to slide his left hand to rest against her belly. He dipped his chin to kiss her hair and neck again, while his right hand continued to caress her back.  

Mark wondered what he should do: Beth wasn’t really responding to him – but she wasn’t actually trying to get away from him either. _Keep talking to her!_ Chloe had urged only an hour ago.  He smiled to himself and tried again, softly.

“This is like the old days, don’t you think, Beth? You know, when I first moved in and shared your small bed in the back bedroom? There was hardly enough room for us both – so you usually slept on me. And I got to hold you and the baby all night!” He smiled and cupped her belly again.

Beth’s eyes snapped open. _How does he know? Surely, Paul hasn’t told him…_

“When I look back at it now,” he went on, obliviously, his hand now stroking over her hip, “I’m even more grateful to Liz and Tom than I felt then.” He stopped, as his eyes filled again, contemplating what might have happened, if he’d been excluded by Beth’s parents from _his_ family. Mark sniffed and wiped his face on his sleeve and carried on.

“Chloe was just asking me about what it was like for us, you know, when she was a baby.” He smiled again through his tears, at the memories she’d evoked. “So I was telling her about that time when….

Beth sighed inwardly and closed her eyes again, as she listened to Mark reminiscing. She could feel his fingers tracking down her spine and pressing against her abdomen, while his soft voice burred in the background.

The way Mark touched her had always been special. 

She couldn’t quite remember when she’d first noticed him all those years ago. It was probably one evening after school; in with a shared group of friends out and about. He stood out, of course, taller than most, usually laughing, and so attractive! And… she often found him looking at her with his crooked smile and those crinkly eyes. It was only a matter of time before they were escaping from the crowd and finding somewhere to be alone.

Usually they snook away to one of the benches up on the high ground of the ancient hill fort beyond the churchyard. They must have spent hours there: talking, touching, planning, kissing and more. It was easy to get to, yet not frequented by many from the town, because of the steep climb – so they were rarely disturbed. It was there that Beth had first experienced the combined delights of Mark’s fingers and lips.

Her particular memory was of looking out to sea, watching the sunset one warm, clear, summer night. She was sitting astride his lap, her back pressed up against him, her left hand reaching up to pull and tease his hair, as he nibbled her neck and shoulder. She was supposed to be watching for the _green flash_ as the sun disappeared. But her attention was totally drawn to his fingertips sliding up her torso beneath her tee-shirt, and then working their magic on her nipples. She was already moaning and writhing against this crotch, when she moved his right hand down, unzipped her jeans and pushed his fingers into her pants.

She was wet with anticipation by the time his index finger found her engorged clit. Its electric stroking made her groan and arch her back. She turned to kiss him, pulling his head down to meet her lips. His finger rubbed her faster and faster, while his erection pressed against backside. As her senses reached overload, she leaned back groaning and shuddering, tightening the grip on his hair until she came.

“Aw, look!” she moaned, when she opened her eyes again. “We missed it!” Then she started giggling. “There was no green flash – just stars!” She snorted with laughter, then flipped round to face him, reaching her arms round his neck.

He laughed with her, then pushed her back slightly, lifted her tee-shirt and bent his head to kiss and tease her right nipple. “I’m just trying to be fair!” he said, feigning seriousness, before grinning and kissing her open mouth.

“What about you then?” she asked anxiously, glancing pointedly at his crotch.

He took her hand, pressed it flat against his stomach under his tee-shirt, and had her slide it into his jeans.

“Urgh!!” she squealed pulling it out again. He tried to look insulted, while she pulled a face and inspected her cummy fingers, but couldn’t help chuckling.

“It’s your fault!” he replied twinkling, and pulling her close to his body again. “You have a very exciting backside!” He pushed his left hand into her pants and squeezed her buttock.

“mmm and you have very exciting fingers,” she whispered, leaning in to him and kissing his mouth softly. “And lips…. and tongue… and I want more.”

But he couldn’t satisfy her desire there and then, it was getting too late, time she was home. Instead she persuaded him to visit her at home the next day. She had something else in mind. She knew she’d have the house to herself, and she wanted to take advantage of it.

…….

With growing impatience, she watched him untie and remove his boots at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Well, did you bring any?” Beth asked urgently.

Mark straightened up and met her glare with some amusement. “I didn’t think it would be very polite to walk up the road and knock on your door flashing these!” He pulled a packet of condoms out of his jean’s pocket.

Laughing, she grabbed his other hand and pulled him quickly up the stairs and into her room.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked carefully, surveying her bed and resisting her attempt to pull him towards it.

Beth was immediately crestfallen. “Don’t you want me?” she whispered.

He grasped her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Course I want you, Beth! But we’ve got to be careful. You’re under age …. and I could get into trouble….” He slid his hands into her hair and kissed her gently on the lips.

“I know,” she groaned, kissing him back and stroking her hands over his torso. “But, I want to have you naked and in my bed…” she spoke softly, as she unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans. “And anyway, you could get into trouble for what we’ve done together already, so..” She took his tee-shirt hem in her fingers and lifted it for him to pull off over his head. “…so, why not?” She looked over his slender, muscular body and ran her fingers through his fine chest hair, then looked into his eyes with a broad smile.

Eyes twinkling, he shook his head in disbelief. _Wasn’t he was supposed to the one persuading her into bed?_ He watched as she took off her tee-shirt and caught her about the waist with his delicate fingers. “Lost your bra, again?” he smirked, raising his eyebrows at her, as he dipped his head towards her breasts.

“No!” She pushed him back. “You can only touch me….. when you’re in bed with me!” Her mock determination melted into giggles as she pushed off her jeans, slid under the covers and turned to watch him shed his.

Mark stood with his hands on his hips, laughter dancing in his eyes, smirking back at her. He stepped towards the bed and handed her the condoms, then pushed his jeans and pants down to his ankles in one movement. Straightening up, he lifted the quilt to look at her nakedness, revealing his own erection as he climbed in to join her. “You can only touch me….. when you’re in bed with me!” he snorted, as she reached to grab him. He leaned over her and kissed her mouth, while she squeezed and stroked him, mesmerised by how stiff and hot he felt. “Careful!” he cautioned, as his lips tracked down to her breasts, and his right hand slipped down between her legs. “Or this’ll all go wrong.”

“I’ve never done this before.” She whispered, wide-eyed and suddenly anxious.

He stopped and looked at her. “I know. Me neither,” he confessed.

He noticed her look of surprise.

“I’m not exactly a virgin,” he explained, “but no one ever dragged me into bed before.”

Beth reached her arms around him, pulled him in and kissed him again. “Aw, never mind sweetheart,” she grinned, running her hands over his flanks. “Today’s the day!”

He chuckled as he wrapped himself around her and kissed her deeply again. Then he pulled away and considered her once more with soft amusement in his eyes.

Quickly he sat back on his haunches, and she watched as he put on a condom and shifted between her legs. She held on to his torso, as he carefully entered her. She could hear his gasping breath as his cock pushed in….. and her own groan.

“Are you OK?” Mark stilled above her, looking into her eyes, his weight on his hands.

She nodded briefly, wide-eyed.

“Then breathe!” he whispered, kissing her softly on the forehead. “And tell me if you want me to stop.”

He waited while she relaxed and started breathing again, then pushed further inside her, as her hands slid down to squeeze his buttocks and then back up to his shoulders.

She smiled up into his eyes, and held his gaze. “Mmmm, this is what I wanted!” she cooed.

He stopped again, wrinkling his nose with a smile. “I kinda got that impression!” he whispered.

“I wanted to see your body… and feel you on me …. _and_ inside me…,” she explained, still holding his gaze, as he slowly began thrusting into her. Suddenly she pulled her knees wider and wrapped her legs around his waist, making him groan as his cock pushed ever more deeply.

“Oh god, I’m right inside you now,” he gasped, burying his face in her shoulder, as the thrusting cock took over his conscious actions.

Beth threaded a hand into his hair and clung on to his head and shoulders, matching his gasps as his bucking hips drove him relentlessly towards his climax.

Afterwards she lay in his arms, her head on his shoulder, her fingers tracing shapes on his chest.

“Your heart rate has calmed down now,” she spoke quietly, lifting her head to look at him. “I thought it was beating inside me.” She beamed at him.

Mark looked at her with smiling eyes, sighed, squeezed her body to his and reached his left hand to pull her lips to his again. “How do you feel now?” he asked, seriously, stroking some wayward locks of hair from her eyes.

“Good!” she replied quickly. “I hope I didn’t disappoint, though.” She regarded him anxiously.

Mark wrinkled his forehead. “How could you possibly….” He stopped and shook his head in amused exasperation. “Listen, you lovely…. silly girl! You couldn’t disappoint me!”

He pulled her up so that she lay on top of him, her forehead touching his. He held her head gently in his huge hands and looked straight into her eyes.

“With your sparkling eyes …. and your turned-up nose …. and your lovely laugh … and your perfect breasts,” he went on matching a kiss to each item. “You didn’t have to invite me into your bed and shag me! I love you anyway.” He kissed her deeply, crushing her body to his.

She pulled away and looked at him again. Then she smiled, bent down to him again and kissed him softly, holding his face and pushing her tongue into his mouth.

“I know,” she whispered, smiling again. She opened her knees to straddle his body as she leant forward to kiss him once more on the lips. Then she edged slowly down his body, stroking her fingers down his torso, and following them with her lips; nuzzling his chest hair, his nipples and his

navel. She stopped and looked up at him again, her fingers stroking through the trail of soft hair on his abdomen. “If I kiss your cock, will it stand up for me again?” she asked, raising her brows.

He snorted again, unable to restrain himself. “Could be worth a try!” he eventually gulped, mirroring her look, and raising himself onto his elbows.

She didn’t have to try too much. His erection was developing well by the time her tongue and lips touched it.

He gasped as she licked him slowly from root to tip, and reached to touch her head. Then he watched her roll another condom down its length, and move to straddle him.

“You meant perfect tits really, didn’t you?” she asked, looking up straight-faced to meet his gaze.

He nodded, quizzically, wondering where this was going.

“Thought so,” she said, holding him upright and lowering her cunt around him again. “I’ve never heard you say so much in one sentence before.”

He reached to hold her torso and her perfect tits and they both burst into giggles.

.... 

Beth smiled to herself and rolled over. She could still feel Mark’s arms around her, his hands briefly cupping her breasts as she leant back against him. He automatically pulled her more upright to him, then his hands slid down to her waist and belly. The back of her head nestled into the crook of his neck.

He’d stopped talking some time ago and was now just content to hold her, feel her weight upon him, and run his fingertips over her. She’d stopped sobbing and her breathing was even again. He pressed his lips to her hair and breathed in deeply, revelling in its scent.

His large hands on her belly evoked another memory.

....

Beth was leaning back against the closed bedroom door, eyes closed.

“That’s good!” she gasped, as Mark supported her naked heavily-pregnant bump with both his hands.

He pressed his ear to her navel; smiled and then kissed the bump gently. “Loud and clear: I think this un’ll be a runner too.” He looked up at her with dark eyes and smiled.

She’d just got out of a warm bath, a long soak to ease her aching back before bed, and had come into the bedroom to find Mark stepping out of his jeans.  She’d stopped to admire his body.

“I’ve just checked on Chloe,” he’d said, turning as he heard the door, “she’s well away….” He stood, in just his underpants, transfixed by the look of her.

She was smiling at him, holding her bathrobe together with one hand, while the other supported her near-term bump. She pushed the door shut with her behind.

“You’re looking nice and relaxed,” he crooned, stepping over to her, sliding his hands inside the robe and kissing her mouth. “How’s the back feel, now?”

“Mmm, a bit better. But I could do with a sling to take the weight of this!” She’d looked up at him ruefully, then watched him sink down to his knees at her feet…

It didn’t take long for his bump-support to develop into something more sensual.

He quickly hooked her right leg over shoulder, while he nuzzled into her cunt. His fingers seemed to be everywhere, touching her breasts, her buttocks, her mouth, her belly, her thighs, while his tongue tracked along her thigh and across her labia. His mouth lingered on her, sucking and licking; his fingers gently eased her lips apart to let his tongue probe deeper. 

She sank back against the door, lifting her hips to meet his mouth, touching her fingertips to his scalp. As her clit became his prime focus, she lost herself to his tongue, moaning and bucking until her shuddering orgasm took over.

Eventually he moved his hands back to the bump and stood up again, while she framed his face with her palms and pulled him back to her lips.

“I can never decide what I love best,” she remarked, beaming at him. “Your tongue or your hands?”

He leaned against her and kissed her deeply, pushing his tongue into her mouth now, sliding his hands round to her buttocks.

She pushed him away lightly and pointedly looked down at his groin. “Or could it be him?” she smirked, pulling his boxers down slowly, so that his stiff cock flipped out and rested against her belly. She stroked him quite roughly, gripping him firmly in her fist, making him gasp and sob in turn. “Can I have him too?” she requested, looking up into his eyes and then leading him over to the bed.

Beth slipped off her robe, and climbed on to the bed on hands and knees, so that he could enter her slit from behind. She moaned with him as he sank into her, his hands on her hips.

He stilled, revelling in the sensation of his unfettered cock enclosed by her hot, tight cunt and sighed again as his hands slipped over her pregnant belly and gently squeezed her unusually pendulous breasts.

Breathing out slowly, she relaxed her back and pelvis, letting him plunge even deeper inside and making him groan aloud. Soon he was thrusting quickly into her, making his groin slap against her buttocks as he chased his frenzied climax, while Beth shuddered and whimpered as his cock worked upon her sweet spot again.

Later, under the duvet, he spooned against her just as he had a few years earlier, his enormous hand holding the bump – connecting him to his new baby, before it was even born – with Beth’s fingers woven into his.

…..

Mark surfaced from his reverie to find his hand resting against Beth’s belly. He listened to her breathing, soft and low and knew she was asleep. He smiled to himself as he stretched his fingers to cup and stroke her abdomen, just as he had all those years ago when she was carrying Danny.

Suddenly his brow creased and his hand stilled. His fingers sensed something different here; something more rounded than usual. He carefully lifted her top and ran his thumb gently under the waistband of her skinny jeans. _Surely there’s usually more room?_   And her breasts looked unusually rounded and firm.

“Oh god, you’re pregnant,” he whispered, wide awake now, and trying to make sense of it all. He couldn’t remember when they’d last had sex – well before Danny…. anyway... And he’d been distracted for weeks before then. No wonder she hadn’t let him touch her.  She knew he’d recognise the signs.

 _Oh god, what have I done to you?_ He automatically wrapped his arms tighter about her and dipped his lips to kiss her hair again. Whatever her reasons for keeping this from him, he knew it was his own fault. Tears pricked his eyes again as he sighed and leaned back against the cupboard door. He’d just have to accept the consequences.

  

  


End file.
